The North Star Mine and Powerhouse are located on Lafayette Hill a short distance south of Grass Valley in the U.S. state of California.

[5] The French Lead, or North Star vein, was discovered in the Fall of 1851 by the Lavance Brothers, who with nine other Frenchmen, formed the Helvetia and Lafayette Gold Mining Company.

[6]: 43 The Lafayette Hill ledge by Wolf Creek was pronounced by the State Geologist in 1855 as being one of the best-producing for quartz mining in California.In the 1860s, reserves were estimated to be not less than thirty thousand tons, worth in the aggregate of $900,000.

Competition between Grass Valley Gold District's 95 mines[8] was fierce, forcing them to open, close, and re-open at various times.

Many, like the North Star, used wood-fired engines to generate steam, depending on the surrounding forest for firewood.

[3] In 1895, Arthur De Wint Foote settled in Grass Valley, having been hired to design and construct an electric-generating plant for the mine.

In 1918, the North Star brought suit against the Empire Mine for underground encroachment upon its claim, but the boundaries were resolved, and the matter never went to trial.

[18][19] After the war, a shortage of skilled miners forced the suspension of operations in the deeper portions of the mine by 1951.

[6]: 75  Mining operations were suspended on 5 July 1956, due to a local labor union strike.

These included the drain tunnel, half a mile long, which was the most considerable item, and a new mill of sixteen stamps.

About $375,000 of the net savings were returned to the owners in dividends, obtained from the use of a six stamp mill during 1862–63, which was subsequently enlarged.

The North Star did not possess chlorination works, but dressed their tailings by hand rockers for sale.

The water in this mine was light, a supply for the use of the amalgamation works being derived from a neighboring ditch company.

[23] In 1878, Lester Pelton of Camptonville brought a strange machine to the Miners Foundry in nearby Nevada City.

[23] Running out of trees to burn, the North Star decided to switch to hydraulic power, and Arthur De Wint Foote designed the 30-foot (9.1 m) wheel which drove four new compressors that delivered 90 pounds (41 kg) of air pressure for 2,000 feet (610 m) to the mine's central shaft.

Compressed air, generated by Pelton water wheels, furnished power for the entire mine operation.

Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Nevada County Historical Society 15 May 1971.